Overall U.S. industrial production rose 0.5 percent in March because of an 8.6 percent weather-driven surge in utilities generation, the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday. That was the largest increase in utilities output on record, which resulted from heating demand returning to so-called seasonal norms after being suppressed by unusually warm weather in February, the

Builders broke ground on fewer homes in March, but ramped up applications for permits, as the housing recovery continued to grind forward in fits and starts. Housing starts fell 6.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.22 million, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That was 9.2% higher than during the same period a year

Kansas City Fed President Esther George on Tuesday said she supports the continuation of the normalization of interest rates, even as she acknowledges it’s unclear how markets will react to the Fed beginning to reduce its $4.5 trillion balance sheet. “It is difficult to know with a high degree of confidence just how the economy

“My tentative conclusion from market responses to the limited amount of discussion of the process of reducing the size of our balance sheet that has taken place so far is that we appear less likely to face major market disturbances now than we did in the case of the taper tantrum,” Fischer said. “But, of

Disappointments on both inflation and retail sales for March might give reason for Federal Reserve officials to think twice about their plan to ratchet up rates as many as three more times this year. The next policy move from the Fed will likely come in June and will likely be followed by another rate hike

The cost of goods and services for American consumers fell in March for the first time in more than a year, reflecting a decline in gasoline prices that’s put a halt for now to rising inflation. The consumer price index, or cost of living, fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month. Economists had forecast

Sales at U.S. retailers fell in March for the second month in a row, marking the worst two-month stretch in two years. Sales at retailers nationwide declined 0.2% last month, a touch less than the 0.3% drop forecast.

U.S. inflation at the wholesale level fell in March for the first time in seven months, owing to lower costs for services such as investment advice as well as cheaper fuel for cars and homes. The producer price index slipped 0.1% last month to mark the first decline since August.